Vegetarian Philly Cheese 'Steak' Sandwich

Oh how I LOVE Pinterest.

Such inspiration for recipes (and pretty much everything else you can think of)

On Saturday I decided to try out this recipe that I had come across.

With a few modifications of my own; I came up with an AMAZING Vegetarian Philly Cheese “Steak” Sandwich.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• Slow Cooker Tofu “Steak” (See Recipe below)
• 6 Sausage Buns
• Garlic Avocado Aioli (See Recipe below)
• Shredded Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese

I wanted to make this as ‘no a/c - summer kitchen friendly’ as possible lol

Meaning, I didn’t want to use my oven or stove…

So instead I used my slow cooker & BBQ!

To begin I prepared the tofu “steak”:

Slow Cooker Tofu “Steak”

Ingredients

• 1 package of extra-firm tofu (drained and pressed to get rid of as much liquid as possible)
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 3 large mushrooms, sliced
• ½ onion, sliced
• sauce

For marinade/sauce, I used a combination of things I had in my pantry/fridge but these are the basic ingredients from the original recipe which I think would work great as well:

• 2 medium green onions, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons agave nectar
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar

Directions:

1. Slice tofu into 1” strips and layer on bottom of slow cooker
2. Cover with peppers, mushrooms & onions
3. Pour sauce overtop (I happened to have a bottle of “Honey Brown Lager Shmeer” in my pantry, it was a gift (from my Dad I think) and is a beer-based grilling sauce. Since we don’t eat meat I hadn’t used it but it worked PERFECTLY for this recipe! I used one bottle, plus I added a little of all of the above sauce ingredients (except for the onion & agave).
4. Cook on low heat for about 5.5-6 hrs.

Shortly before preparing sandwiches I made the Garlic Avocado Aioli:

Garlic Avocado Aioli

Ingredients

• 1 medium avocado
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Slice the avocado and remove the skin and the pit
2. Place the avocado in a small bowl and add the mayo, garlic and salt
3. Stir until everything is well combined

Now to prepare the sandwiches!

Using a slotted spoon I removed the tofu & veggies from the slow cooker and set aside (on separate plates)

Directions

1. Pre-heat BBQ to medium heat
2. Tear off six pieces of aluminum foil and have them ready to place your sandwiches on
3. Place one bun on each strip of aluminum foil
4. Spread both sides of each bun with the Garlic Avocado Aioli
5. Now add several prepared Tofu Philly “Steak” slices to each bun and top with veggies and cheese
6. Wrap the sandwiches in the foil and place them on the BBQ for about 10 minutes or so

Let cool and ENJOY!